“Sir, you’re just frightened and have some scrapes, nothing serious.”

“Thank you, young gentleman. If not for your rescue, the consequences would have been unimaginable.” The traveler spoke words of gratitude as he gulped down water, his accent pure Song, clearly not a native of Jin.

William Carter became alert: “Sir, you’re not from around here? This is the territory of my Zhao clan. Ordinary people are not allowed to enter. How did you come in here alone?”

“Ahem, it’s a long story. I am a staff member of the Grand Minister of Works of Song, Philip Scott. I left the posthouse this morning to visit Jie Zitui’s tomb at Mianshang. On my way back, I lost my way and accidentally entered this forest. I unwittingly disturbed that beast, which smashed my carriage with a single blow and chased me all the way here.” Philip Scott recounted with lingering fear.

At this point, Philip Scott paused, for he noticed the youth before him had a most unusual appearance: a high nose bridge, slightly sunken eye sockets—clearly of partial Di ancestry—and eyes so black and bright, like whirlpools, drawing his gaze in.

Out of professional habit, he couldn’t help but reach out to take the youth’s hand, wanting to examine his palm.

Being grabbed by a strange man in his thirties, William Carter felt a chill, pulled his hand back, and stepped away, revealing the sharp dagger at his waist: “Sir, what are you trying to do?”

Philip Scott realized his behavior was somewhat rude, but seeing the youth’s extraordinary features, he couldn’t help himself.

“To be honest, I am a renowned physiognomist from Song. Seeing that young gentleman’s features are so unique and intriguing, I beg your pardon. Would you allow me to see your palm?”

William Carter had lived at the bottom of society in his previous life and had seen plenty of such charlatans. He smiled dismissively: “Sir, if you’re so good at reading fate, how come you couldn’t tell which road to take, or foresee today’s bloody misfortune…”

At this, he suddenly froze. A physiognomist? Could this be the very man recorded in the histories, the one who spoke well of him before his father, Zhao Yang?

Looking closely, he saw that after wiping away the dust and blood from his face, Philip Scott did indeed have the air of a distinguished scholar.

“So that’s how it is. Then I shall respectfully comply.”

With that, William Carter quickly adjusted his thoughts, put on a harmless smile, and extended his hand for Philip Scott to examine.

“How strange, how strange…” Philip Scott clicked his tongue in wonder, then furrowed his brow, looking very serious.

“Sir, sir? Have you discovered anything?”

“Young gentleman’s features are truly noble; in the future, you may become a lord of a region. However…”

“However?”

“Yet your fate was abruptly cut off not long ago. In all my years of studying physiognomy since the age of ten, having observed thousands across the land, I have never seen such a fate… As the poem says: ‘I go upstream and downstream, the road is long and hard; I go upstream and downstream, the road is long and steep.’ As for your future, I, Ziqing, am powerless to predict.”

William Carter felt a bit uneasy. It seemed this Philip Scott was no fraud, and had actually seen through some things. He’d better send him away quickly—if he figured out anything more, that would be trouble.

He forced a laugh and said, “Sir, you are an honored guest of my Zhao clan. It was remiss of us to let you be frightened. Xi, use your horse to escort the gentleman out.”

“And call someone in to carry this big fellow away. Tonight, we’ll get to eat braised bear paw.” Thinking of such a rare delicacy from his previous life, William Carter couldn’t help but feel his mouth water.

Before Philip Scott left, William Carter half-jokingly asked him, “Sir, I am tracking a prey. Can you divine which direction the creature went?”

True to his profession, Philip Scott actually pulled a few divining stalks from his tattered sleeve and cast a divination on the spot.

A sword can be lost, but never the tools of one’s trade!

Philip Scott muttered a string of refined Zhou speech with a frown, then suddenly slapped his thigh in excitement.

“Amazing, it’s the omen of King Wen capturing the flying bear!”

One night, King Wen of Zhou dreamed of a bear with wings flying into his arms. The next day, while hunting on the Zhou plains, his shaman divined and said, ‘What you will catch is neither dragon nor chi, neither tiger nor bear.’ And so, by the Weishui River, he met Jiang Taigong fishing with a straight hook.

Philip Scott pointed to a deep path in the forest and said, “Young gentleman, if you go this way, your catch will be most auspicious—beyond words!”

Chapter 10: Pity the Empty Seat at Midnight

Seeing Philip Scott so confident, William Carter dared not completely disbelieve him. After all, he had already experienced the unscientific event of soul transmigration. Now, he could only adopt Confucius’s attitude: respect the spirits, but keep your distance.

He had Matthew Hill stay behind to watch the horses and prey, while he searched in the direction indicated by Philip Scott.

The forest grew denser as he went, and William had to draw his dagger to hack through the thorns, forging ahead with great effort.

During the Spring and Autumn period, nature was not heavily exploited. In later generations, the southern Jin basin would never again see such a pristine ecosystem. This land had already been cultivated for two thousand years by the five dynasties of Tang, Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou, and was one of the most densely populated regions in the world at this time. One could imagine that in the wild lands of Chu and Yue, there were even more swamps and primeval forests, where one could witness the spectacular sight of herds of rhinoceroses and elephants.